Winona State University freshman Genevieve Barba, 18, gets comfortable while cramming for her mathematics final Dec. 7 on the third floor of the Darrell W. Krueger Library on the WSU campus in Winona, Minn. "It's just more comfortable," Barba said of the tendency to kick her shoes off while studying.

The sun streamed into the Darrell W. Krueger Library Monday afternoon, beckoning the hundreds of students buried in old tests, notes and Word documents loaded onto their laptops to come out and play. Unfortunately, Monday brought the first day of finals week on the Winona State University campus, and the only fresh air many of the students would be breathing was when the library closed at 2 a.m. beginning Monday and ending Wednesday.

"I study a lot more than I did as a freshman," said WSU senior Karl Brueggemann, 21. The music business major sprawled paperwork across the cubicle he inhabited Monday, cramming for his algebra final. "If I really need to focus, I like to be in the library," he said.

Freshman Genevieve Barba agreed that the library was the best place to be to ready for the string of semester-ending tests. She playfully fidgeted with her empty clogs that lay beneath her desk as light music hummed for only her to hear through the white iPod earbuds strung across her cheeks.

"I like sitting at these individual desks because there aren't any distractions," Barba said.

At the Darrell W. Krueger Library on the WSU campus, students were invited to "Take a Study Break" on the first floor, where a game of bags was set up, as well as tic-tac-toe, checks, mancala, Trivial Pursuit questions and colorful paper to create their own paper airplane.

The Darrell W. Krueger Library hours on the Winona State University campus are as follows:

December 7-10: Monday-Wednesday 7:30am-2:00am

December 10: Thursday 7:30am-7:00pm

December 11: Friday (Commencement) 7:30am-5:00pm

The Fitzgerald Library hours on the Saint Mary's University campus are as follows:

December 10-11: Thursday-Friday 7:30 am to 2:00 am

December 12: Saturday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm

December 13: Sunday Noon to 2:00 am

December 14: Monday 7:30 am to 2:00 am

December 15: Tuesday 7:30 am to 4:30 pm